(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an amusement method and apparatus for throwing an object such as a flying disk by means of a hand held launching device.
(2) Prior Art
Amusement games involving the throwing of aerodynamically stabilized disks of the type sold under the trademark FRISBEE by the Wham-O Corporation and under the trademark ALL STAR by Concept Products Incorporated and by many others, have enjoyed and continue to enjoy phenomenal popularity. However, some users have experienced difficulties in mastering the basic skills which are necessary for throwing such disks due to an inability to develop a viable throwing technique which often involves difficulties in grasping the disk and/or developing the proper wrist and arm motions required for an effective throw. Other users have been frustrated in their desire to obtain greater distances and accuracy; while more sophisticated techniques such as right and left hand long distance throwing is beyond the reach of all but the most skilled and dedicated. These limitations are due in part to the necessity of forming the disks out of light weight, small gauge material such as plastic and of shaping the disks in such a way as to impart the desired aerodynamic characteristics by which the disk appears to float or to be suspended in air as it is thrown. If the disks could be made smaller and of higher density material, greater distances and accuracy could be easily obtained. Such an approach, however, is not possible as the desirable aerodynamic characteristics of the disk would thus be lessened or destroyed. Of course, a user could attempt to acquire the minimum necessary skills or to improve his throwing ability by extensive training and practice but such time consuming activity is not practical for the majority of users who are only casual participants.
In the sport of skeet shooting it is well known that airborne targets (i.e., clay pigeons) can be thrown over great distances by means of a manually operated, hand held launching apparatus. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,438 discloses a hand operated device for launching clay pigeons including a handle for increasing the effective length of a user's throwing arm and a resilient element carried on the handle for engaging a portion of the outer periphery of the pigeon being thrown. When the launching device is swung outwardly, the pigeon gains sufficient momentum to spread open the resilient element and release itself from the launcher. By virtue of the increased effective length of the thrower's arm, the pigeon travels over a much longer trajectory than if the pigeon had been thrown with bare hands. A spring clamp attached to the resilient element is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,438 for resiliently engaging the rim of the clay pigeon to impart a spin thereto as the pigeon is launched. Examples of other types of hand held launching devices for throwing disk-shaped objects are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 663,090; 1,186,098, 1,700,880; 2,124,738; and 3,901,208.
Devices for throwing objects for target shooting are naturally designed to provide the greatest possible speed but need not be designed for great accuracy as some variation in target trajectory may not only be tolerable but actually desirable in order to challenge better the shooter's abilities. Moreover, target launching devices which rely on the momentum of the target to cause automatic release of the object invariably employ jaw-like object retaining structure. This retaining structure resiliently contacts the target's perimeter at opposed points during the time that the target is released from the launcher. As long as the object is formed of relatively rigid material, this type of release mechanism causes no distortion in the shape of the object which would adversely affect the desired flight path of the object. Thus, launching devices of this type are satisfactory for launching objects such as rigid targets. However, when an amusement game is played which involves the throwing by one player of a light weight, semiflexible object designed to be caught by another player, such conventional hand held launching devices are unsatisfactory for both increasing the skill and range by which the players may throw the object and for providing the degree of flight control necessary to enable the receiving player to catch the object. In part, this unsuitability of conventional launchers stems from the fact that the object being thrown is released only upon gaining sufficient momentum to spread apart the retaining structure; thus, the thrower is unable to vary the amount of momentum imparted to the object except above a predetermined release momentum. Moreover, great skill is required to be able to position the launcher in the direction necessary to effect a desired flight path at the instant of release of the object when such release is not under the direct control of the thrower. Since most aerodynamically stabilized disks used in amusement games are formed of semirigid material, the retaining structure of conventional launchers would tend to cause distortion in the shape of such disks during release and, would thus, cause unpredictable flight paths. Conventional launchers are also unsuitable because a portion of the momentum imparted to an object is employed to operate the release mechanism and, thus, the object will not travel as great a distance as would an object released by a mechanism that does not decrease the object's momentum, all other factors being equal.
Amusement devices are known for launching a circular object wherein the object is released by hand without necessarily decreasing the object's momentum. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,155 discloses such a device for manipulating a hoop in which the user swings the launcher while gripping both the launcher and the hoop until release of the hoop is desired at which point the user releases his grip on the hoop. While useful for the purposes disclosed, the launcher illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,155 could not impart significantly greater momentum to an aerodynamically stabilized disk than is possible by bare hand throwing since the effective length of the user's throwing arm is not increased due to the necessity for the user to grip both the launcher and the object during each throw.